The Washington, DC, senior statisticians’ monthly gathering had about 25 attendees in February, including Mary Batcher, candidate for ASA president; Tom Jabine; and Monroe Sirken.

From left, first row: Mary Batcher, Jennifer Madans, Monroe Sirken, Tom Jabine, Barbara Mader, Doug Samuelson. From left, middle row: Elizabeth Margosches, NJ Scheers, Walter Rosenkrantz, Carl Pierchala, Maurice Owens, Dan Kasprzyk, David Whitford, Larry Wiener, Mel Kollander. From left, back row: Mike Messner, Fritz Scheuren, David Nolle, Clifton Bailey, Jerry Gates, Mike Cohen, Pepi Lacayo.

Jennifer Madans, associate director for science at the National Center for Health Statistics and the 2015 honoree for the Roger Herriot Award for Innovation in Federal Statistics, gave a talk titled “The Coming of Age of Disability Statistics.” In it, she addressed some of the challenges of measuring disabilities so the data can be compared internationally, including data from third-world countries. Madans and her colleagues took the data from fairly nonexistent in 2000 to today, when countries can compare how well those with disabilities are functioning in their countries.

Since its founding, the society has grown from a few participants to more than 70 members. If you are interested in attending a future meeting, contact Mel Kollander at mellk@erols.com or Mike Fleming at charles.fleming@bhox.com. Each meeting is limited to 35 attendees, and the next meeting is scheduled for September.